Commencement: As specified in the 'Main Provisions' section of this
Digest

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Purpose

The Bill amends two Acts administered by the Veterans'
Affairs portfolio, namely, the
Defence Service Homes Act 1918 and the
Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. For the most part the amendments
give legislative effect to 1995- 96 Budget announcements. The major
amendments:

.
extend Defence Service Homes eligibility to
full time members of certain Second World War women's services;

.
allow the assignment of Defence Service Homes eligibility to
providers of retirement village and granny flat accommodation;

.
set a minimum age requirement for the partner service
pension;

.
extend income support supplement to war widows
and widowers with pensioner partners; and

As there is no central theme to the Bill, a brief
background to each major amendment is outlined below.

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Main Provisions

Main Amendments to the Defence Service Homes Act
1918

Housing assistance has been available
under the provisions of the
Defence Service Homes Act 1918 to certain
men and women who have served Australia since 1918. As at June 1994, there
were 107 124 persons in receipt of Defence Service Homes (DHS)
assistance.
1 Assistance includes housing loan interest
subsidies, comprehensive homeowners' insurance cover and home contents
insurance. The maximum loan available is $25 000 repayable over 25 years.
Under an arrangement between the Commonwealth and the Westpac Banking
Corporation, the Commonwealth subsidises Westpac for low- interest loans it
provides to eligible persons.
2

Extension
of DSH eligibility to full time members of certain Second World War women's
services

The main effect of
item 12 of Schedule 1 is
to extend DSH eligibility for women who during the Second World War
were:

.
a member of the Women's Royal Australian Naval
Service, the Australian Women's Army Service or the Women's Auxiliary
Australian Air Force;

.
a member of the Australian Army Medical
Women's Service, other than a member of the Australian Imperial Force;
or

.
a full- time paid member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment.

The proposed extension of DSH eligibility is a 1995- 96 Budget
measure. The rationale given for the proposed extension in the
Department
of Veterans' Affairs Budget Review 1995- 96 was:

For fifty years,
former members of the World War II Women's Services who did not actually
serve overseas during war time have been excluded from Defence Service Homes
benefits in contrast to many of the male volunteers.

This
initiative redresses that situation and recognises the major contribution to
the war effort made by thousands of female volunteers who joined the
services on the same basis as their male
counterparts.
3

An additional
rationale for the proposed extension is given by the Government in the
Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill. The rationale being:

A conciliation conference was held before the Human Rights
and Equal Opportunity Commission, as a result of a complaint from a World
War II Ex- Service Women's representative. The parties agreed that the
present position is an issue of indirect discrimination and should be
resolved. This proposal redresses that situation and recognises the major
contribution to the war effort made by thousands of female volunteers who
joined the services during World War II.

Item 12 of Schedule 1 will commence on 1 July 1995 (
clause
2).

Assignment of DSH eligibility to providers of retirement
village and granny flat accommodation

The majority of the
amendments to the
Defence Service Homes Act 1918 proposed by
Schedule 1 deal with the assignment of DSH eligibility to providers
of retirement village accommodation and granny flat accommodation. The key
amendment is the insertion, by
item 35 of Schedule 1, of a new
section 23A. In plain English, proposed section 23A gives the Secretary of
the Department power to give permission to an eligible person (the
assignor) to give their DSH eligibility to another person (the
assignee). Permission, which takes the form of the issue of a
certificate of assignment will only be given where certain conditions
are met, including:

.
the Secretary is satisfied the assignee
owns or will own a retirement village that is mainly for the accommodation
of eligible persons, or is a granny flat;

.
the Secretary is
satisfied the assignee will help the assignor get and keep a right of
residence in the retirement village, if Westpac provides a loan to the
assignee;

.
a subsidised loan has not already been made to the
assignor in relation to the certificate of entitlement; and

.
the assignor and assignee have agreed to conditions specified
by the Secretary [proposed subsection 23A(2)].

Proposed section
23A also provides the Secretary with the power to make determinations
specifying conditions to which an assignor and assignee must agree before a
certificate of assignment will be issued [proposed subsection 23A(3)].

A certificate of assignment must specify certain matters,
including:

.
maximum amount of the loan;

.
the
maximum term of the loan;

.
the purpose of the loan;

.
the
rate of on the loan; and

.
particulars of interest payable matters
specified by the Secretary in a determination [proposed subsection
23A(5)].

Proposed subsection 23A(6) allows the Secretary to
make determination on what matters are to be included in a certificate of
assignment. Determinations of the Secretary, both under proposed subsections
23A(3) and 23A(6), are subject to disallowance by Parliament [proposed
subsection 23A(7)].

Item 30 of Schedule 1 extends the
proposed assignment right to widows and widowers.

Item 31 of
Schedule 1 extends the proposed assignment right to loans for essential
repairs.

The proposed assignment right is a 1995- 96 Budget
measure. The rationale given for the proposed extension in the
Department
of Veterans' Affairs Budget Review 1995- 96 included:

As the veteran population ages their housing needs change and
retirement village/granny flat accommodation is appropriate for many who
have difficulty in living alone independently.

These arrangements will
increase appropriate housing options and assist elderly clients to remain
independently housed while encouraging them to move to accommodation more
appropriate to their needs. As veterans age, existing accommodation may
become inappropriate. Where this occurs and particularly where social
isolation is also a factor, there is often increased demand for nursing and
caring services that might be more effectively met in terms of cost and
health outcomes in more appropriate
accommodation.
5

The effect of
item 5 of Schedule 2 is to
treat as operational service, and hence extend eligibility for a pension, to
persons who performed continuous full- time service in Japan between 28
April 1952 and 19 April 1956. The Government's intention with this
amendment, as stated in the Explanatory Memorandum, is to make eligible for
a pension persons who were allotted for duty in Korea during the Korean War
but who only served in Japan.

Item 5 of Schedule 2 will
commence on 1 October 1995 (
clause 2).

Minimum age
for partner service pension

The
Veterans' Entitlements
Act 1986 allows a partner of a veteran to receive a partner service
pension where they are married to, or in a marriage like relationship with,
a veteran receiving an age or invalidity service pension.

The
main effect of
item 10 of Schedule 4 is to provide that a person is
not eligible for partner service pension unless they have reached age 50 or
have a dependant child when they make a claim for the pension. This
exclusion will not apply in two circumstances, namely:

.
to a
claim made before 1 October 1995 by a person was eligible for a partner
service pension; or

.
a person determined by the Repatriation
Commission before 1 October 1995 to be eligible for a partner service
pension.

The proposed minimum age for the partner service
pension is a 1995- 96 Budget measure. The rationale given for the proposed
extension in the
Department of Veterans' Affairs Budget Review 1995-
96 included:

It is generally accepted,
however, that people under fifty years of age should not be expected or
encouraged to retire. Payment of partner service pension to younger partners
does not encourage those people to seek work in their own right and for many
it is irrelevant as most partners today are in the workforce.

Future non- veteran partners under 50 who are
not looking after a dependent child or severely handicapped veteran and are
unable to obtain work may be eligible for Partner Allowance, Sickness
Allowance or Disability Support Pension from the Department of Social
Security.
6

Item 10 of
Schedule 4 will commence on 1 October 1995 (
clause 2).

Extension of eligibility for partner service pension to certain
non- veterans and widows and widowers

Items 5 and 9 of
Schedule 4 extend eligibility for partner service pension to persons
who:

.
are a member of a couple;

.
whose partner is a
veteran; and

.
qualify for an age pension under the Social Security
Act; or

.
a widow or widower of a veteran who has rendered
qualifying service and who qualify for an age pension under the Social
Security Act.

A widow or widower eligible for a partner
service allowance will loose their eligibility where they remarry or enter
into a marriage like relationship (
item 11 of Schedule 4).

The proposed extension of eligibility for partner service pension is
a 1995- 96 Budget measure. The rationale given for the proposed extension in
the
Department of Veterans' Affairs Budget Review 1995- 96
included:

Currently, a partner of a veteran
cannot apply for a partner service pension unless the veteran is receiving a
service pension. Therefore, a partner, who is of pension age and married to
a veteran below pension age, has to apply for a DSS pension and then
transfer to a service pension later when the veteran becomes
eligible.

This initiative enables DVA to support
veterans' dependents even though the veteran does not receive a service
pension or did not receive a service pension prior to his or her death. In
addition, partners, widows and widowers may be entitled to receive a greater
amount of pension than they would be entitled to from DSS because DVA does
not assess disability pension as income.
7

Extension of income support
supplement to war widows and widowers with pensioner partners

Basically, income support supplement is a payment in lieu of a social
security payment and to qualify a person must be a war widow or widower, an
Australian resident and either have reached retiring age, have a dependent
child or be permanently incapacitated for work.

Item 1 of
Schedule 5 inserts a new paragraph 45A(1)(b)(iv) in the
Veterans'
Entitlements Act 1986 that extends eligibility for income support to war
widows or widowers who have a partner getting a pension.

The
rationale give by the Government in the Explanatory Memorandum for the
extension of income support supplement is that:

The original intention of the income support supplement
was to give all war widow/ers receiving a social security income support
pension the option of receiving their income support payment under the VE
Act. However, not all social security pensioners fall within the existing
eligibility criteria for the income support supplement. War widow/er spouses
of disability support pensioners and age pensioners are excluded. These
amendments rectify this oversight. On equity grounds, war widow/er spouses
of service pensioners are also given eligibility for the
supplement.
8

Section 85 of the
Veterans'
Entitlements Act 1986 deals with eligibility for medical and other
treatment. Basically, to be eligible for treatment there has to be a
determination in force providing that an injury suffered by a veteran is a
war caused injury or that a disease contracted by a veteran is a war caused
disease. Entitlement to treatment commences from the date:

.
pension, or increased pension, is granted to a veteran for the injury or
disease; or

.
if the injury or disease is insufficient to grant
eligibility for a pension or pension increase, the date the pension or
pension increase would have been granted if the injury or disease was
sufficient.

Under subsection 85(2) of the
Veterans'
Entitlements Act 1986 a veteran is eligible for treatment for malignant
neoplasia or pulmonary tuberculosis three months prior to the lodging of an
application for treatment. In practical terms this subsection means that
veterans suffering from malignant neoplasia or pulmonary tuberculosis do not
have to go through pension claim procedures. The effect of
item 1 of
Schedule 6 is to extend subsection 85(2) eligibility to veterans
suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder

The rationale give by the
Government in the Explanatory Memorandum for the extension of subsection
85(2) eligibility is that:

Last year the
Government initiated major extensions of treatment and support services for
veterans suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder around Australia.
Many veterans have directly benefited from specialised inpatient
services.

This proposal will assure the provision of
appropriate early treatment to veterans for psychiatric problems brought on
by post- traumatic stress disorder. Such early intervention in post-
traumatic stress disorder cases greatly increases the likelihood of
successful treatment outcomes.
10

With respect to post- traumatic stress disorder, the
Veterans' Compensation Review Committee's March 1994 report,
A Fair Go -
Report on compensation for veterans and war widows, recommended:

.
the Department of Veterans' Affairs, in conjunction with the
Department of Defence investigate ways of preventing post- traumatic stress
disorder for future veterans following operational service;

.
development of a strategy to diagnose, identify and treat veterans
suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder; and

.
investigate
ways of improving the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service to provide, in
particular, maximum opportunity for veterans suffering post- traumatic
stress disorder and other debilitating effects of war, to be returned to a
full and normal lifestyle with enhanced employment
opportunities.
11

In July 1994 the Minister
for Veterans' Affairs announced that a National Centre for war related Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder would be established at Heidelberg Repatriation
Hospital in Melbourne. The Centre is intended to concentrate on best
practice treatment methods in the area of veterans' mental health problems,
collate international and domestic research and information, accredit
private and public post- traumatic stress disorder around the country and
gather statistical material for the Department of Veterans'
Affairs.
12

Item 1 of Schedule 6 will
commence on 1 July 1995 (
clause 2).

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Endnotes

1.
The Annual
Reports of the Repatriation Commission and the Department of Veterans'
Affairs - 1993- 94, p. 27.

This
Digest does not have any legal status. Other sources should be consulted
to

determine whether this Bill has been enacted and, if so, whether
the subsequent Act reflects further amendments.

Commonwealth of
Australia 1995

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